Between You and Me:

Sunita Ratanlal – Celebrating A Beautiful Life

Relationships: When You Lose the One You Love

Today morning I lost my much-loved older sister Sunita Ratanlal nee Prabha Kripalani. She left for her true home after a fierce battle fought courageously over the past few years and then finally in the ICU. She was 85 and had been ailing for a few years.

I still remember her as the beautiful college student who looked like a model. She could sketch, paint and write and ran her own store before the term ‘woman entrepreneur’ became common. She had a wonderful marriage and three children before she ventured into fashion design, working with weavers, craftsmen and tailors.

She was tireless in her search for fabrics and artifacts and often traveled to small towns and cities. Her ensembles were popular in India as well as the Far East. Brides loved her outfits because they were gorgeous and never at crazy designer prices.

More than anything else, she gave of herself freely. She knew how to be wife, mother, aunt, sister, friend and employer. She knew how to put herself in the other person’s shoes and had the kindness and empathy to be almost a mind-reader, always interpreting people’s needs and helping them.

Her home became the big house known for its hospitality and warmth, and she and her excellent husband Ratan were the lodestar for all those who knew them.

In this time of grieving, I can only comfort myself with the knowledge that I did spend a lot of quality time with her as her health unraveled, traveling to India every year. Eating our favorite foods, talking our hearts out – and finally when her words failed, holding each other’s hands.

I was all set to go to Delhi to be with her again but then I got the news that she had already embarked on this Great Journey. Armed with her suitcase of good karma, I think she will ace this adventure too.